PEORIA -- Peoria Chiefs pitching coach Jason Simontacchi has won a coaching position in the Arizona Fall League.

Simontacchi will be the fourth coach — bullpen/pitching coach — for the Peoria (Ariz.) Javelinas.

The six-team league starts in early October, with each team playing about 30 games. The Peoria team will be stocked by coaches and players from the Cardinals, Braves, Indians, Royals and Rays.

“Essentially, being the fourth coach is being the pitching coach down in the bullpen,” Simontacchi said. “I’ve never done this before. Threw my hat in last year but didn’t get selected. It’s such an honor, very exciting for me.

“It gives me a chance to see what other prospects look like, and bring that information back to the organization when I’m trying to compare how our own guys project.”

Later this month, major league teams will each select three players to send to fall ball, and while players from the high-A or class-AA level are typically the choices, it’s possible a prospect like Peoria’s Rowan Wick could be tabbed.

There have been some notable players who played for the Chiefs, then were promoted and ended up being selected to the Arizona Fall League all in the same season.

ON THE CLOCK: The Chiefs will likely skip lefty ace Rob Kaminsky in an upcoming start — probably his next one — based on a plan indicated by Cardinals minor league pitching coordinator Tim Leveque, who was at Dozer Park this week.

Leveque said the Cardinals are watching the innings totals for Kaminsky — their No. 1 pick in 2013 — and highly-touted righty Alex Reyes.

Reyes’ last turn was skipped, but he’s scheduled to rejoin the rotation Tuesday on the road.

“Ultimately, we skip a start with them as a control mechanism,” Leveque said. “With Reyes and Kaminsky, it’s their first year at this level, and this level is a very tough, serious challenge for young players like this.

“We want to make sure we are careful, responsible, with the number of innings they throw. About 110 innings is the target for those two guys.

“The plan is to skip them just once each. That should be enough, along with careful monitoring as the season goes on.”

Page 2 of 2 - Reyes has thrown 841/3 innings this season, while Kaminsky, who joined the team late from Extended Spring Training, reached 832/3 after his start Friday.

Leveque says the Cardinals project innings totals for their minor league pitchers at the start of the season. He said he did not expect the Chiefs to have to skip starts from any other pitchers on the staff.

CHIEFLY SPEAKING: Chiefs manager Joe Kruzel, after his team was swept in a pair of games Thursday by Wisconsin, a club Peoria is trying to edge out for a playoff spot:

“We have four games with them here, three more again after that, and we’re behind them. So we need to come out of these seven games with some wins, get ourselves back on top of them. We’re not dead by any means.”

WICKER MAN: Rowan Wick is struggling at the plate in his first Midwest League call-up, illustrating just how big a jump short-season ball at State College is to full class-A ball at Peoria.

At State College, Wick crushed 14 home runs in 119 at-bats and hit .378. Strikeouts accounted for 46 percent of the outs he made there.

At Peoria, he headed into Saturday action hitting .159 with two home runs in 63 at-bats. Strikeouts account for 59 percent of the outs he’s made here. In fact, he’s had multiple strikeouts in 11 of his 17 games with the Chiefs.

To his credit, he headed to the team’s indoor batting cage after Peoria’s win Friday night, showing he’s willing to work.

In the field, meanwhile, Wick has shown a breathtaking arm, gunning down three runners at the plate in his 17 outings with the Chiefs.

CHIEFS BRIEFS: Chiefs lefty pitcher Chase Brookshire was placed on the inactive list Saturday morning and left the team to attend the funeral of his grandmother. He’s expected to re-join the Chiefs on Tuesday. ... Chiefs lefty Rob Kaminsky is 6-2, but three of his outings have turned into no-decisions on blown saves. Peoria has 16 blown saves for the season. ... Kaminsky has turned over 14 baserunners to the Chiefs bullpen in his 15 starts, and nine of those runners have scored. It’s the difference between his 1.83 ERA and what would otherwise be 1.10. ... Beloit first baseman B.A. Vollmuth was released on July 31 by parent club Oakland, a day after the Chiefs road game there. Vollmuth hit nine homers in the Midwest League this season — four of which were against Peoria.

Dave Eminian covers the Chiefs and Rivermen for the Journal Star. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Check out his sports blog, Cleve’s World, at pjstar.com and follow him on Tout and Twitter @icetimecleve.